Kaiser Permanente to give MLK Community Hospital $25 million grant to help with emergency care shortage
Amid facing a shortage of emergency care capacity, Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in South Los Angeles will be receiving a $25 million charitable grant from Kaiser Permanente.
MLK's emergency department has been dealing with a financial crisis due to changes to federal Medicaid funding.
As one of the country's leading healthcare providers, Kaiser Permanente said its investment reflects the company's mission as a nonprofit organization to deliver affordable care and improve the health of the communities it serves. Kaiser will also be purchasing and loaning a $7 million modular building to support the emergency department's expansion.
"We are profoundly grateful to Kaiser Permanente for its extraordinary generosity," said Dr. Elaine Batchlor, CEO of MLK Community Healthcare. "This gift—the largest in MLK's history—strengthens our ability to offer care in the safe, dignified setting our community deserves. As our partner and champion, Kaiser Permanente is expanding its history of commitment to the South LA community with support that is as timely as it is impactful."
More than 135,000 patients come through the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital's emergency department each year, and it is one of many struggling acute-care medical facilities.
Kaiser said the hospital has made significant changes to still see as many patients as possible while providing quality care. Despite the financial distress, MLK maintains 4- and 5-star quality ratings from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
The money MLK will receive will help with the permanent expansion of the hospital's emergency department to increase capacity, provide a temporary modular emergency care facility to maintain uninterrupted patient access and provide long-term improvements to the community.
"This is about more than expanding an emergency department. It is about strengthening the health care infrastructure that Los Angeles families depend on today and will continue to rely on for generations to come," said Greg A. Adams, chair and CEO of Kaiser Permanente.
